NHL releases the 2025-26 schedule, the last 82-game season before new CBA increases it to 84

NEW YORK — The NHL released the full 2025-26 schedule Wednesday, the final 82-game season before the new collective bargaining agreement kicks in and increases it to 84. The league's 32 teams will combine to play 1,312 games between Oct. 7 and April 16 with the playoffs to run from the following weekend through much of June. Beginning in 2026-27, there will be 1,344 games — the most in NHL history. Alex Ovechkin begins his 21st season Oct. 8 when he and the Washington Capitals host Boston. Ovechkin is at 897 career goals after breaking Wayne Gretzky's record and can add to his total at age 40. It's even plausible Ovechkin gets No. 900 in the same arena on Long Island in which he scored his 895th to pass Gretzky. The Capitals visit the New York Islanders in their second game Oct. 11, before playing the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 12. After raising their second consecutive Stanley Cup banner on opening night Oct. 7 against Chicago, the back-to-back defending champion Florida Panthers continue their threepeat bid two days later when they host Philadelphia. Utah plays its first game as the Mammoth on Oct. 9 at Colorado. They were known as the Utah Hockey Club during the first year in Salt Lake City after relocating from Arizona. For the first time in more than a decade, the league is pausing in the winter to send players to the Olympics. The Milan break runs from Feb. 6-24, with play resuming Feb. 25. The NHL's last participation in the Games was 2014 in Sochi, though the new CBA provides for players to also go in 2030, pending another deal with the International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation.